film reviews, interviews, features | BRWC

Author: Caillou Pettis

  • Most Wanted: Review

    Most Wanted: Review

    Inspired by a true story, an investigative journalist named Victor Malarek (Josh Hartnett) unravels a twisted case of entrapment wherein a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, Daniel (Antoine-Olivier Pilon), is forced into a dangerous drug deal against his will and is sentenced to 100 years in a Thai prison. As Daniel endures torture and abuse, the journalist must track down the shady undercover cops benefiting off the conspiracy, while also fighting for Daniel’s freedom.

    Daniel Roby’s Most Wanted is an appreciated effort that has quite a number of things to enjoy, but also has a lot of things to be frustrated by. It’s a crime thriller/drama that works best in its second act particularly, once some of the puzzle pieces seem to be aligning, but its first and third can be a little bit of a chore to sit through.

    The first act plays out relatively familiar and doesn’t have any surprises up its sleeves, but that’s okay. It serves as a major set up act with the purpose of enticing viewers and reeling them into this story by getting to learn a bit more about the characters first. That’s one of the strongest elements of Most Wanted – it’s a movie where you really get a sense of who these characters are. A lot of them are ruthless in their pursuits and a lot of them are quiet and more reserved. The character development given to Antoine Oliver Pilon in particular was excellent and quite well-done.

    Speaking of Pilon, he delivers a nuanced and powerful lead performance and disappears totally in the role. In real life, he is more than likely a happy-go-lucky man, but here, he looks tired and ready to snap at any moment. Also great in their role is Josh Hartnett as Victor. There truly isn’t a weak link amongst this highly talented cast.

    Sadly though, a lot of the actors feel underused, despite their great acting skills on display. We get lots of screentime with Daniel and Victor in particular, but as a result, it can sometimes feel as though the other characters don’t get as much time to shine. But aside from the underuse of its characters, Most Wanted‘s biggest problem is its pacing. It’s not too long of a film, with a running time of one-hundred and thirty-five minutes, but here, you can definitely feel it.

    There could have been a good twenty to twenty-five minutes of screentime completely removed and it would have felt more coherent and the narrative would have felt much smoother. The screenplay can feel a bit messy as you can tell that the story they are trying to tell is full of so many details, but sometimes, not all of these details are entertaining to watch.

    At the end of the day, Most Wanted falls just a bit too short of its big ambitions. It has an excellent cast of actors that give it their all and has its moments of intrigue, but its running time is stretched too thin and its story mostly feels messy.

  • Coven: Review

    Coven: Review

    Five undergrad witches come together in order to perform a ritual to invoke the ancient powers of the witch Ashura. The leader of the coven gets carried away and accidentally kills one of the witches during the ritual. She needs the strength of a complete coven to invoke Ashura’s powers and sends them out to find a final witch. As she absorbs power the surviving girls’ plot to take her down but the possessed witch unleashes hell on campus with only one young witch left to stop her.

    Before watching Margaret Malandruccolo’s Coven, I was expecting it to be quite bad. I never usually go into a film with that sort of mindset. I try my hardest to be optimistic about every single movie that I watch and to be fair, I was willing to give Coven a chance. But, I was a little hesitant about it. The poster looked as if it was for a direct-to-DVD film that released in the early 90s that nobody had ever heard of. Plus, witch movies have never been ones that I particularly enjoy, but as I said, I was willing to give it a chance.

    Unfortunately, instead of being a pleasant surprise, Coven is a cinematic curse and is one of the worst movies of the year so far. It has virtually nothing to offer and will make you want to stop watching at every passing minute. Watching the entire film was definitely a chore for me, and I’m genuinely shocked that I was able to stay awake during it.

    It’s a film with a story that doesn’t work for multiple reasons. One – it’s just not interesting. This type of premise has been done hundreds of times before, and better, too. It plays out in an extremely familiar fashion and has no surprises up its sleeves. The plotline goes the exact same direction you think it’s going to go.

    Two – it can be incredibly confusing, especially early on. So many weird and zany things happen just in the first ten minutes alone to the point where I was seriously questioning what I was watching. There are lots of scenes here that feel completely out of place and even some that will make you uncomfortable, but not in a good way. Sometimes, it truly feels like an inappropriate movie.

    But aside from the heavily messy, dreadfully boring story, one of the other massive problems Coven suffers from is its characters. They are all deeply unlikable and have no redeeming qualities to them. It’s hard to root for the main characters in your movie when they’re all witches that feel trope-ridden and make decisions that make you shake your head.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCaj8BehF8

    Even just aside from that, it’s a visually bland film that doesn’t have anything nice to look at. It would have been delightful if the film, as bad as it is, had some good cinematography and clever use of lighting in order to set the mood for a ritualistic story. But no. It looks and feels like it belongs on the Lifetime channel. It’s poorly lit and features stale cinematography. The film has no memorable shots.

    The only redeeming quality of Coven is the fact that it is only eighty minutes in length, including two minutes of credits. If it was any longer, it would have felt like I was under an even worse spell.

    Coven is a heavily messy, trope-filled disaster with an array of unlikeable characters and a story that feels dated and familiar.

  • The Silencing: Review

    The Silencing: Review

    A reformed hunter (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and a sheriff (Annabelle Wallis) are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse when they set out to track a killer who may have kidnapped the hunter’s daughter five years ago.

    Robin Pront’s The Silencing is a bit of a mixed bag in the thriller genre. There are some problems with the film that are too big to ignore, but at the same time, it’s filled with plenty of impressive moments for all to enjoy.

    One of the biggest strengths that this movie has is its excellent cast. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portrays the lead protagonist Rayburn Swanson, a man who is haunted by the knowledge that his daughter was kidnapped. He will stop at nothing to try to find her and the man that is responsible for taking the one thing he loves most away from him. 

    Here, Coster-Waldau feels totally unhinged and ready to snap at any possible second. I have been a big fan of his work in the past, and his performance here reminded me yet again of his amazing talents. His character goes through a deep and depressing arc and has to deal with a lot of emotions throughout the story. He is an alcoholic and it got in the way of his home life. Because of his drinking, he never really got to spend too much time with his daughter who is now missing, and as a result, he feels extreme remorse and guilt.

    It has to be said that Coster-Waldau gave us a wonderful performance in The Silencing. His wonderful acting skills attracted a large number of fans. As a fan who loves him, most people will choose to customize each of his roles into a small badge for collection. Custom Lapel Pins can not only express our love for him but also remind us to learn from his spirit of hard work in studying acting skills so that we can shine in the field we are good at.

    Thankfully, we get several scenes that are dedicated to just him and his thoughts. We get to see the pain that he is going through just by looking into his cold, sad eyes. Coster-Waldau completely disappears into this role. I never once saw him as an actor, but rather, I only saw his character, which is a great thing. Here’s hoping that HBO hires him to play Joel Miller in their upcoming television series adaptation of The Last of Us.

    But aside from Coster-Waldau, Annabelle Wallis does a similarly amazing job in the role of Sheriff Alice Gustafson. Sadly, her character was not given nearly as much depth or development as the protagonist. Alice feels like every other police officer character in a crime thriller and nothing about her character stands out from the crowd. But none of that changes the fact that Wallis still does a terrific job in her role. I just wish that her character was given a lot more to do.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYls5LCzHr8

    That’s really one of the biggest issues that this movie has – it only fleshes out its main protagonist but nobody else. It’s easy to get attached to Rayburn and understand his plight because the film spends quite some time building up his character and his arc which is great. The downside to that is so many characters feel underused and pointless in the long run.

    Another thing that was unfortunately easy to notice was the use of shaky cam. There aren’t too many action/fight scenes, but when the film does have them, there is almost always shaky cam involved. It’s a little bit difficult to see who is attacking somebody in certain sequences.

    The film doesn’t always work due to its underdeveloped characters and action, but it makes up for it in the tension department. There were several moments where I was genuinely nervous as to what was going to happen next. Pront did a remarkable job of crafting several moments that felt truly intense, even if the film as a whole was somewhat lacking.

    The Silencing suffers from a lack of character development and an overuse of shaky cam in its action sequences, but it’s saved by the excellent performances and moments of genuine tension throughout.

  • Kat And The Band: Review

    Kat And The Band: Review

    Seventeen-year-old, music obsessed school girl Kat Malone (Ella Hunt) tricks her way into managing struggling band Dollar Days, pretending to be a band manager in her twenties.

    E.E. Hegarty’s Kat and the Band is a beautifully touching film that delves into the inner relationships and turmoils of a promising band that doesn’t have much luck when it comes to scoring gigs. It’s a film that is most certainly not without its problems, but it managed to put a big smile on my face and swept me off my feet from the beginning all the way until the end.

    A large portion as to why this movie works as well as it does is because of the relationship between the band members and the titular Kat Malone. I have seen quite the number of music-related films that are similar to this film, but this particular movie does an excellent job of showcasing a band that is not without its faults. The music that Dollar Days plays is actually quite good, but they struggle to find anywhere to play. They spend most of their time either practicing or simply playing at the cheapest possible venues because they are that desperate to even have a few people hear some of their songs.

    But Kat immediately takes notice of the band’s potential and wants to help them out because she too is a hardcore music lover and has a dream of one day becoming a professional band manager. But, instead of being outright and forward with the band, she simply approaches them by already stating that she is a manager with lots of experience under her belt.

    It takes her a lot of convincing, but eventually, she wins them over after she manages to find them a remarkably talented drummer named Sid (Idris Debrand). When all seems to be going alright for the group, they run into one misstep after the next, and it not only becomes incredibly entertaining to watch them figure their way out of the sticky situation but poignant and uplifting. It truly felt as though I were watching a real band trying their best to succeed. I felt the raw passion that these band members had, which is impressive considering that these were all actors.

    All of the cast do wonderful jobs in their respective roles, but none come close to reaching the levels of energy and warmth that lead-star Ella Hunt manages to radiate. I have been a fan of her work ever since the extraordinarily unique and exciting Anna and the Apocalypse and I loved her portrayal of Sue Gilbert in Apple TV+’s Dickinson series from last year. While her performance here as Kat isn’t as great as the aforementioned performances, she still manages to pull off a sweet and captivating performance of a teenage girl who loves music and will stop at nothing until her dreams come true. Watching her character in this film was greatly rewarding and inspiring.

    When it comes to issues with the film, there are definitely a few as I hinted at earlier. For one, the plotline isn’t anything original and does, at times, feel quite familiar. It follows a tried-and-true formula of a music-related film and doesn’t have a bunch of shocking surprises up its sleeves. Gratefully though, it ended up being rather unpredictable, as I thought I had the ending all figured out at one point, only for the film to go in the completely opposite direction which was a pleasant diversion.

    Furthermore, there are some moments in which the film feels as if it is moving along a bit too quickly. With a running time of only ninety-two minutes, there is only so much time that is dedicated to fleshing out a few of the characters. For example, Kat’s best friend Jane (Jennifer Leong) feels pushed to the side compared to the other actors. I didn’t really get a strong sense of what her character’s purpose was, other than to love and support her best friend.

    All that being said though, E.E. Hegarty’s Kat and the Band is a beautifully touching and inspiring music-fueled coming-of-age tale with a sense of life and wonder oozing through. It’s a movie that I think a lot of us could use right now.

    Kat and the Band is a beautifully sweet and uplifting music-fueled coming-of-age tale with a great sense of heart, and an excellent performance from Ella Hunt.

  • Relic: Review

    Relic: Review

    When Edna (Robyn Nevin), the elderly and widowed matriarch of the family, goes missing, her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) travel to their remote family home to find her. Soon after her return, they start to discover a sinister presence haunting the house and taking control of Edna.

    If there is one thing that can definitely be said regarding Relic, it is that first-time feature director Natalie Erika James knows how to craft tension that feels authentic and grounded, and she ensures that the feeling is never lost. Here, she manages to craft a film that attempts to say quite a bit of things and it does so relatively well, but what’s most impressively displayed with this film is its slow-burning pace and its quiet scenes that oftentimes leave you feeling deeply uncomfortable and a little bit nervous.

    Many are going to watch this movie and call it extremely boring and will say that nothing really happened in it. I can definitely understand that point of view, but I respectfully disagree. This is a creepy and unique way of telling the story of a broken family and the lengths that one may go in order to hold on to somebody within that family. As I mentioned earlier, it doesn’t always handle its themes in the most careful ways. It does, unfortunately, feel a bit messy at times and there are some moments where the overall story gets lost along the way, but there are plenty aspects to the film that were greatly enjoyable and left an impact on me.

    One of the strongest being the performances all across the board. Perhaps the greatest of the bunch is none other than Robyn Nevin, who portrays the eerily mysterious Edna. Every single time she is on screen, she radiates a sense of uneasiness that was never lost. She felt remarkably cold and quiet in all the best ways. There was even one scene in particular where all she is doing is having a conversation with Kay, but her way of speaking mixed with the uncertain dread lying behind her eyes gave me goosebumps.

    Speaking of Kay, Emily Mortimer also does a terrific job here, as does Bella Heathcote. All three of these actresses feel in complete control of the film. Never once did it feel like they were actors portraying characters. It truly felt as though I were watching a family going through the worst time of their lives.

    Something else that was excellent in Relic was the atmosphere. The entire movie is littered with tons of dark colors and hues that give off a strong unwelcoming vibe, but in a good way. Right from the opening scene alone, I got the sense that this world was a tragic and scary one that has a lot of intrigue within it. These colors and the dark lighting, mixed with the impressive cinematography by Charlie Sarroff make this film a treat for the eyes.

    If there is one big problem I have with Relic, it is most certainly the ending. It’s the type of ending that you can tell was created to make viewers go “What in the world just happened? That was so weird”. But, really, it will make viewers go “That was kind of dumb”. It feels incredibly pretentious and makes the rest of the film beforehand feel somewhat inconsequential. Even still, the film’s cold tone mixed with the mysterious story make it a horror journey worth going on, despite its flaws.

    Relic‘s mysterious and eerie story accompanied by the excellent performances across the board make it a delightful horror film, messy as it may be.